Systems and methods for responsive web page delivery based on network bandwidth

ABSTRACT

A system comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program, and a computer-implemented method for responsive web page delivery based on network bandwidth. Upon initiation of a network communication session, a bandwidth of a network connection of the client device involved in the network communication session is determined. At least one initial display element to provide as part of a webpage for display on the client device is selected based on the bandwidth of the network connection. Instructions are then provided to the client device which cause the client device to display the at least one display element. In some embodiments, an updated bandwidth is subsequently determined and updated display elements are selected based on the updated bandwidth.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Example embodiments of the present application generally relate to webpage delivery and, more particularly in one embodiment, to a system andmethod for responsive web page delivery based on network connectionbandwidth.

BACKGROUND

Current approaches in web page design focus on providing websitescrafted to provide an optimal viewing experience across a range ofdifferent network devices (e.g., desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.) used to access the Internet. Such approaches focus onpresenting websites in a manner that can be easily read on each type ofdevice and navigated with a minimum amount of resizing, panning,scrolling or other user gestures. As such, a number of different designsfor each web page may be created to deliver the optimal viewingexperience to each different type of device.

Because these network devices are capable of accessing the Internet fromnearly any location, users of these devices often access the Internetand view web pages in a mobile manner. For example, a user may begin anetwork session while in one physical location and the user may continuethe session as they move to another location. This mobility causesdevices to switch between different communication networks and accessthe internet over a variety of different network connections. Each ofthese networks and network connections have different attributes (e.g.,network speed, signal strength, bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio, etc.)affecting the delivery of web pages to the devices. In some instances, anetwork or network connection may limit the user's viewing experience ofa particular web page due to the limited capabilities of the network ornetwork connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a network system having aclient-server architecture configured for exchanging data over anetwork, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of multiplemarketplace and payment applications, which are provided as part of thenetwork system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of multiplemodules forming responsive web page display applications, which areprovided as part of the network system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of providingresponsive web page delivery based on network bandwidth.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of selectingdisplay elements based on network bandwidth.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of selectingdisplay elements based on network bandwidth.

FIG. 7 is an interaction diagram illustrating an example method ofproviding responsive web page delivery based on network bandwidth.

FIG. 8A is an interface diagram illustrating an example web page withmultiple display elements delivered to a client device, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 8B is an interface diagram illustrating an example web page withmultiple updated display elements delivered to a client device,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8C is an interface diagram illustrating an example web page withadditional updated display elements delivered to a client device,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile device, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions for causingthe machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussedherein may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to specific example embodiments forcarrying out the inventive subject matter. Examples of these specificembodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will beunderstood that they are not intended to limit the scope of the claimsto the described embodiments. On the contrary, they are intended tocover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims. In the following description, specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter.Embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In addition, well known features may not have been described indetail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the subject matter.

In accordance with the present disclosure, components, process steps,and/or data structures may be implemented using various types ofoperating systems, programming languages, computing platforms, computerprograms, and/or general purpose machines. In addition, those ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that devices of a less generalpurpose or nature, such as hardwired devices, field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or thelike, may also be used without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe concepts disclosed herein. Embodiments may also be tangibly embodiedas a set of computer instructions stored on a computer readable medium,such as a memory device.

Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for webpage delivery based on network bandwidth. Consistent with someembodiments, the system may monitor a network communication session of aclient device (e.g., laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and may measurethe bandwidth of the network connection of the client device. In someembodiments, the bandwidth may be an exact value corresponding toavailable data communication resources of the network expressed in bitsper second, or multiples thereof. In some embodiments, the measuring ofthe bandwidth may comprise determining that the bandwidth of theconnection is within a range of bandwidth values corresponding to theavailable data communication resources of the network.

Consistent with some embodiments, one or more display elements to bedisplayed as part of a web page on the client device may be selectedbased on the measured bandwidth of the network connection. The selectionof the display elements may be based on the amount of data communicationresources necessary to properly deliver the display elements to theclient device. For example, display elements requiring a low amount ofresources for transmitting to the client device (e.g., text elements orlow resolution images) may be selected for a low bandwidth connection.In some embodiments, the display elements are selected from a group ofdisplay elements assigned to the bandwidth range corresponding to thenetwork connection. Each of the selected display elements may bepresented on the client device.

In some embodiments, the system may continue to monitor the networkcommunication session to determine updated bandwidth values at variouspredefined intervals throughout the session. For example, the system maydetermine the bandwidth of the network connection upon each server call(e.g., a click, swipe, gesture or other user interaction with the webpage) or request from the client device. In some embodiments, thepredefined intervals may depend on the type of service being used orinvoked during the session.

In some embodiments, once an updated bandwidth value is determined, thesystem may select one or more additional or replacement display elementsbased on the updated bandwidth. Each additional or replacement displayelement is then transmitted for display on the client device. Additionaldisplay elements may be displayed in conjunction with previouslyselected display elements. In some embodiments, the replacement displayelements are displayed such that each replaces a correspondingpreviously selected display element. In some embodiments, displaying thereplacement elements simply causes the removal of one or more elementspreviously presented as part of the web page.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting an example network system 100,according to one embodiment, having a client-server architectureconfigured for exchanging data over a network. For example, the networksystem 100 may be a network-based marketplace 102 where clients maycommunicate and exchange data within the network system 100. The datamay pertain to various functions and aspects associated with the networksystem 100 and its users.

A data exchange platform, in an example form of a network-basedmarketplace 102, may provide server-side functionality, via a network104 (e.g., the Internet), to one or more client devices. The one or moreclient devices may be operated by users that use the network system 100to exchange data over the network 104. These transactions may includetransmitting, receiving (communicating), and processing data to, from,and regarding content and users of the network system 100. The data mayinclude, but are not limited to, images; video or audio content; userpreferences; product and service feedback, advice, and reviews; product,service, manufacturer, and vendor recommendations and identifiers;product and service listings associated with buyers and sellers; productand service advertisements; auction bids; and transaction data, amongother things.

In various embodiments, the data exchanges within the network system 100may be dependent upon user-selected functions available through one ormore client or user interfaces (UIs). The UIs may be associated with aclient device, such as a client device 106 using web client 110. The webclient 110 may be in communication with the network-based marketplace102 via a web server 122. The UIs may also be associated with a clientdevice 108 using a programmatic client 112, such as a clientapplication, or a third party server 114 (e.g., one or more servers orclient devices) hosting a third party application 116. It can beappreciated that, in various embodiments, the client devices 106, 108,and/or the third party server 114 may be associated with a buyer, aseller, a third party electronic commerce platform, a payment serviceprovider, or a shipping service provider, each in communication with thenetwork-based marketplace 102 and optionally with each other. The buyersand sellers may be any one of individuals, merchants, or serviceproviders, among other things.

The client devices 106 and 108 may be any of a variety of types ofdevices (e.g., a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a personal navigation device (PND), a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, anotebook computer, a wearable computing device such as glasses or awristwatch, an multimedia device embedded in an automobile, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) device, a data enabled book reader, or othertype of movable device). The client devices 106 and 108 may interfacevia a connection 118 with a communication network 104 (e.g., theInternet or Wide Area Network (WAN)). Depending on the form of theclient device 106 and 108, any of a variety of types of connections 118and communication networks 104 may be used.

For example, the connection 118 may be Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)connection, or other type of cellular connection. Such a connection 118may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology,such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT),Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)technology, or other data transfer technology (e.g., fourth generationwireless, 4G networks). When such technology is employed, thecommunication network 104 may include a cellular network that has aplurality of cell sites of overlapping geographic coverage,interconnected by cellular telephone exchanges. These cellular telephoneexchanges may be coupled to a network backbone (e.g., the publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), a packet-switched data network, or toother types of networks).

In another example, the connection 118 may be Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi,IEEE 802.11x type) connection, a Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX) connection, or another type of wireless dataconnection. In such an embodiment, the communication network 104 mayinclude one or more wireless access points coupled to a local areanetwork (LAN), a WAN, the Internet, or other packet-switched datanetwork.

In yet another example, the connection 118 may be a wired connection,for example an Ethernet link, and the communication network 104 may be aLAN, a WAN, the Internet, or other packet-switched data network.Accordingly, a variety of different configurations are expresslycontemplated.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a third party application 116 executing on athird party server 114 that may offer one or more services to users ofthe client devices 106 and 108. The third party application 116 may haveprogrammatic access to the network-based marketplace 102 via theprogrammatic interface provided by an application program interface(API) server 120. In some embodiments, the third party application 116may be associated with a vendor, a merchant, or any organizations thatmay conduct transactions with the users of the client devices 106 and108. For some example embodiments, the third party application 116 maybe associated with an online marketplace (e.g., eBay, Inc. of San Jose,Calif.).

Turning specifically to the networked-based marketplace 102, the APIserver 120 and a web server 122 are coupled to, and provide programmaticand web interfaces respectively to, one or more application servers 124.The application servers 124 host one or more marketplace application(s)126, payment application(s) 128, and responsive web page deliveryapplication(s) 130. The application servers 124 may be coupled via theseinterfaces to the communication network 104, for example, via wired orwireless interfaces. The application servers 124 are, in turn, shown tobe coupled to one or more database server(s) 132 that facilitate accessto one or more database(s) 134. In some examples, the applicationservers 124 can access the database(s) 134 directly without the need fora database server 132. In some embodiments, the databases 134 mayinclude databases both internal and external to the network-basedmarketplace 102.

The marketplace applications 126 may provide a number of marketplacefunctions and services to users that access the network-basedmarketplace 102. The payment applications 128 may likewise provide anumber of payment services and functions to users. The paymentapplications 128 may allow users to accumulate value (e.g., in acommercial currency, such as the U.S. dollar, or a proprietary currency,such as “points”) in accounts, and then later to redeem the accumulatedvalue for products (e.g., goods or services) that are made available viathe marketplace applications 126. For some example embodiments, paymentapplications 128 generally enable transfer of values (e.g., funds,reward points, etc.) from an account associated with one party (referredto as a sender) to another account associated with another party(referred to as a receiver). To perform the value transfer, execution ofthe payment applications 128 may be based on one or more approval flows.This may require having access or the rights to initiate these approvalflows and to use the services of a payment facilitator. One example of apayment facilitator is PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Having accessmay not include having approval to transfer the values out of thesender's account, while having approval may implicitly include havingaccess.

The web page delivery applications 130 may provide a number ofresponsive web page delivery services to users that access the networksystem 100. For example, the web page delivery applications 130 maymonitor the bandwidth of the connection 118 during a networkcommunication session with the client device 106 and provide displayelements selected based on the bandwidth to the client device 106.

While the marketplace, payment and web page delivery applications 126,128, and 130 are shown in FIG. 1 to all form part of the network-basedmarketplace 102, it will be appreciated that, in alternativeembodiments, the web page delivery applications 130 may form part of aservice that is separate and distinct from the network-based marketplace102. Further, while the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 employs aclient-server architecture, the present invention is, of course, notlimited to such an architecture, and could equally well find applicationin an event-driven, distributed, or peer-to-peer architecture system,for example. The various modules of the application servers 124 may alsobe implemented as standalone systems or software programs, which do notnecessarily have networking capabilities.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of multiplemodules forming the marketplace and payment applications 126 and 128,which are provided as part of the network system 100. The modules of themarketplace and payment applications 126 and 128 may be hosted ondedicated or shared server machines (not shown) that are communicativelycoupled to enable communications between server machines. Each of themodules 200-210 are communicatively coupled (e.g., via appropriateinterfaces) to each other and to various data sources, so as to allowinformation to be passed between the modules 200-210 of the marketplaceand payment applications 126 and 128 or so as to allow the modules200-210 to share and access common data. The various modules of themarketplace and payment applications 126 and 128 may furthermore accessone or more databases 134 via the database servers 132.

The marketplace and payment applications 126 and 128 may provide anumber of publishing, listing, and price-setting mechanisms whereby aseller may list (or publish information concerning) goods or servicesfor sale, a buyer can express interest in or indicate a desire topurchase such goods or services, and a price can be set for atransaction pertaining to the goods or services. To this end, themarketplace and payment applications 126 and 128 are shown to include atleast one publication module 200 and one or more auction modules 202,which support auction-format listing and price setting mechanisms (e.g.,English, Dutch, Vickrey, Chinese, Double, Reverse auctions etc.). Thevarious auction modules 202 may also provide a number of features insupport of such auction-format listings, such as a reserve price featurewhereby a seller may specify a reserve price in connection with alisting, and a proxy-bidding feature whereby a bidder may invokeautomated proxy bidding.

A number of fixed-price modules 204 support fixed-price listing formats(e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type listing or acatalogue listing) and buyout-type listings. Specifically, buyout-typelistings (e.g., including the Buy-It-Now (BIN) technology developed byeBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) may be offered in conjunction withauction-format listings, and allow a buyer to purchase goods orservices, which are also being offered for sale via an auction, for afixed-price that is typically higher than the starting price of theauction.

Store modules 206 may allow sellers to group their item listings (e.g.,goods and/or services) within a “virtual” store, which may be brandedand otherwise personalized by and for the sellers. Such a virtual storemay also offer promotions, incentives, and features that are specificand personalized to a relevant seller. In one embodiment, the listingsand/or transactions associated with the virtual store and its featuresmay be provided to one or more users.

Navigation of the network-based marketplace 102 may be facilitated byone or more navigation modules 208. For example, a search module may,inter alia, enable key word searches of listings published via themarketplace 102. A browser module may allow users via an associated UIto browse various category, catalogue, inventory, social network, andreview data structures within the marketplace 102. Various othernavigation modules 208 (e.g., an external search engine) may be providedto supplement the search and browsing modules.

In order to make listings, available via the network-based marketplace102, as visually informing and attractive as possible, the marketplaceand payment applications 126 and 128 may include one or more imagingmodules 210, which users may utilize to upload images, videos, or otherdisplay elements for inclusion within listings. An imaging module 210also operates to incorporate images, videos, and other display elementswithin viewed listings. The imaging modules 210 may also support one ormore promotional features, such as image galleries that are presented topotential buyers. For example, sellers may pay an additional fee to havean image included within a gallery of images for promoted items.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of multiplemodules forming the responsive webpage delivery applications 130, whichare provided as part of the network system 100. The modules of theresponsive webpage delivery applications 130 may be hosted on dedicatedor shared server machines (not shown) that are communicatively coupledto enable communications between server machines. Each of the modules300-306 are communicatively coupled (e.g., via appropriate interfaces)to each other and to various data sources, so as to allow information tobe passed between the modules 300-306 of the responsive webpage deliveryapplications 130 or so as to allow the modules 300-306 to share andaccess common data. The various modules of the responsive webpagedelivery applications 130 may furthermore access one or more databases134 via the database servers 132.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, responsive webpage delivery applications 130may include one or more connection monitoring modules 300, which may bea hardware implemented module or software executed by general purpose orspecial purpose hardware or instructions stored on a computer readablemedium that is operative to monitor a connection (e.g., connection 118)of a client device (e.g., client device 106) during an networkcommunication session. The network communication session may be anyinteractive communication exchange between the client device 106 andanother network device (e.g. application server 124) involving theutilization of one or more web based services. In some embodiments, thenetwork communication session may involve the display of a websiteincluding one or more web pages. Each web page of a particular websitemay have a particular design for each type of device that may access thewebsite. Each web page may include one or more display elements. Adisplay element may be, for example, text, a text box, a window orframe, an advertisement banner, an image, a video, or other dynamiccontent elements.

Consistent with some embodiments, a network communication session mayinclude utilization of the features of the network system 100 during anetwork session of a client device 106 with the network-basedmarketplace 102. For example, a network communication session mayinclude navigation of the network-based marketplace 102 facilitated bythe navigation modules 208.

The connection monitoring modules 300 may monitor the network sessionand may measure and determine the bandwidth (e.g., speed) of theconnection 118 of the client device 106 to the communication network104. For purposes of this disclosure, the bandwidth of the connection118 may refer to a network bandwidth, a data bandwidth, a digitalbandwidth, a bandwidth capacity, a maximum network throughput, or atotal bandwidth consumption.

In some embodiments, the measured bandwidth may be an exact valuecorresponding to the available data communication resources of thenetwork expressed in bits per second, or multiples thereof. In someembodiments, the measuring of the bandwidth may include determining thatthe bandwidth of the connection is within a range of bandwidth valuescorresponding to the available data communication resources of thenetwork.

In some embodiments, determining the bandwidth of the network connectionmay include measuring the latency of the connection 118 of the clientdevice 106 to the communication network 104 and/or the web server 122.The latency of the connection 118 refers to the time delay observed asdata transmits from one networked device to another (e.g., from theclient device 106 to the web server 122). Consistent with someembodiments, the latency of the connection 118 may be a one-waymeasurement of the time that a packet of data is transmitted from asource device (e.g., client device 106) until the data packed isreceived by the destination device (e.g., web server 122). In otherembodiments, the latency of the connection 118 may be a round-tripmeasurement of the time that a packet of data is transmitted from asource to device (e.g., client device 106) to a destination device(e.g., web server 122) and back to the source device.

In some embodiments, determining the bandwidth of the connection 118 mayinvolve measuring a load on the API server 120, the web server 122, orthe application server 124. The “load” refers to an amount ofcomputational work that each of these servers 120-124 is performing,respectively. In some embodiments, determining the bandwidth of theconnection 118 may involve measuring the strength of the connection 118or a signal-to-noise ratio of the connection 118.

The connection monitoring module 300 may determine the bandwidth of theconnection 118 of the client device 106 to the communication network 104upon initiation of the network communication session by a user of theclient device 106. In some embodiments, the connection monitor module300 may continue to monitor the network communication session todetermine updated bandwidth values at various predefined intervalsthroughout the session. For example, the connection monitor module 300may determine the bandwidth of the network connection 118 upon eachserver call (e.g., a click, swipe, gesture or other user interactionwith the web page) or request from the client device 106. The predefinedintervals may depend on the type of service being used or invoked duringthe network communication session. For example, the communicationmonitor module 300 may determine updated bandwidth values at morefrequent intervals for communication sessions involving a videostreaming service and at less frequent intervals for communicationsession involving presentation of simple text based news articles. Insome embodiments, the predefined intervals may be based on userpreferences.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the responsive webpage delivery applications130 may include one or more element selection modules 302, which may bea hardware implemented module or software executed by general purpose orspecial purpose hardware or instructions stored on a computer readablemedium that is operative to select one or more display elements based onthe bandwidth of the network connection 118. The element selectionmodules 302 may select the one or more display elements based on thebandwidth determined at the initiation of the network session or asubsequent updated bandwidth measured throughout the network session.Each web page may have a number of different available display elementsintended to be displayed as part of the web page. In some embodiments,the available display elements may be images, videos, or other displayelements uploaded by a user to the imaging module 210. The number andtype of display elements to be displayed on a particular web page maydepend on the device being used to access the web page.

Each display element may require a certain amount of data communicationresources in order for the display element to be properly transmitted toand displayed on the client device 106. In some embodiments, the elementselection module 302 may select only those elements which the networkconnection 118 is capable of transmitting and displaying on the clientdevice 106. To this end, the element selection modules 302 may beconfigured to dynamically determine the amount of resources or networkbandwidth necessary for the transmission and display of each of thedisplay elements. Once the necessary bandwidth for each availabledisplay element has been determined, the element selection modules 302may compare the necessary bandwidth for each element with the bandwidthof the network connection 118. The element selection module 302 may thenselect one or more elements having a necessary bandwidth less than thatof the bandwidth of the network connection 118.

In some embodiments, the element selection module 302 may determine theamount of resources or network bandwidth necessary for the transmissionand display of each of the display elements. The determination may bemade upon initial publication of each web page. Each display element maythen be assigned to a particular bandwidth category or range ofbandwidth values. For example, video content or high resolution imagesmay be classified as “Heavy Elements” and may be assigned to a range ofvalues corresponding to the highest bandwidth range. In another example,text elements or low resolution images may be classified as “LightElements” and may be assigned to a range of values corresponding to thelowest bandwidth range. In some embodiments, the element selectionmodule 302 may automatically assign each display element to a bandwidthrange. In other embodiments, assigning each display element to abandwidth range may involve a selection by the user, a control mechanismin the user device, an application configured on the user device, aservice provider application running on a server or in a cloud networkconfiguration, or as initiated by the service provider. Consistent withthis embodiment, the element selection module 302 may use the measuredbandwidth of the connection 118 to select elements assigned to thecorresponding bandwidth range.

Consistent with some embodiments, the element selection modules 302 mayselect one or more replacement display elements to replace previouslyselected display elements or one or more additional display elements todisplay in conjunction with previously selected display elements. Thereplacement display elements may be selected based on an updatedbandwidth value determined by the connection monitor module 300subsequent to an initial bandwidth value being determined. The elementselection modules 302 may select replacement display elements inaccordance with one or more of the techniques described herein.

In some embodiments, the element selection module 302 may determine thateach of the available display elements require a greater bandwidth thanis available. The responsive webpage delivery applications 130 may thusinclude one or more element adjustment modules 304, which may be ahardware implemented module or software executed by general purpose orspecial purpose hardware or instructions stored on a computer readablemedium that is operative to adjust, modify, translate, or convert one ormore of the display elements so as to reduce the bandwidth necessary fortransmission or display of these elements. For example, the elementadjustment modules 304 may convert a high resolution image to a lowresolution image. In another example, the element adjustment module 304may capture a single frame of a video to display in place of the video.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the responsive webpage delivery application130 may include one or more display modules 306. The display module 306may be a hardware implemented module or software executed by generalpurpose or special purpose hardware or instructions stored on a computerreadable medium that is operative to control information or data that isprovided to client systems for display on client device 106. The displaymodule 306 may be configured to present web pages, user interfaces, andother information retrieved from the database 134. In some embodiments,the presentation of webpages includes presentation of display elementsselected by the element selection modules 302 to the client device 106.The display modules 306 may transmit instructions to the client device106 which cause the client device 106 to present the web pages andaccompanying selected display elements.

It will be appreciated that one or more of the various example modulesof the responsive webpage delivery applications 130 may be combined intoa single module. Further, in some embodiments, the one or more modulesmay be omitted and additional modules may also be included.Additionally, while the modules of FIG. 3 are discussed in the pluralsense, it is noted that a single version of the module may be utilized.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 400 of providingresponsive web page delivery based on network bandwidth. In thisexample, the method 400 may include operations such as receiving aplurality of display elements at operation 405, initiating a networkcommunication session at operation 410, determining bandwidth of thenetwork connection at operation 415, selecting display element(s) atoperation 420, providing instructions to display the selected displayelements at operation 425, determining an updated bandwidth of thenetwork connection at operation 430, selecting replacement displayelements at operation 435, and providing instructions to display thereplacement display elements at operation 440.

At operation 405, a plurality of display elements are received. Theplurality of display elements may comprise a portion of one or morewebpages or user interfaces. In some embodiments, the plurality ofdisplay elements is comprised of every element in a webpage or userinterface. In some embodiments, the plurality of display elements may bereceived by the imaging module 210 from a user for publishing as part ofone or more webpages. In some embodiments, the plurality of displayelements may be received from one or more applications running on theapplication server 124 or the third party server 114. In someembodiments, the plurality of display elements is retrieved from arepository of display elements such as database 134.

At operation 410, a network communication session is established with aclient device (e.g., client device 106). The network communicationsession may include an exchange of information or data between theclient device 106 and another network device (e.g., application server124). For example, the network communication session may involvebrowsing webpages, streaming audio or video content, publishing content,bidding on items offered for sale in an online auction, purchasing itemsoffered for sale by an online merchant, text-based (e.g., instantmessage (IM)) communications, sending and receiving email, presentationof advertisements, and the like.

At operation 415, the bandwidth of the connection to the client device106 is determined. The determining of the bandwidth of the connectionmay, for example, include measuring the latency of the connection 118between the client device 106 and the server hosting the session,measuring the network throughput, measuring the signal strength of thenetwork connection 118, and measuring the signal-to-noise ratio of thenetwork connection 118.

At operation 420, one or more initial display elements are selected fromthe plurality of display elements received at operation 405 based on thebandwidth measured at operation 415. The one or more initial displayelements may be provided as part of a webpage or may comprise the entirewebpage. Further details of operation 420 are discussed below inreference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

At operation 425, the client device 106 is provided with instructionswhich cause the client device 106 to display the one or more initialdisplay elements. The displaying of the one or more initial displayelements may include displaying a webpage comprised of the one or moreinitial display elements.

At operation 430, an updated bandwidth of the connection 118 isdetermined. The network connection 118 to the client device 106 may bemonitored throughout the pendency of the network communication sessionand an updated bandwidth may be determined at predetermined intervalsthroughout. The updated bandwidth may be determined according thetechniques described herein in reference to operation 415. Thepredetermined intervals may be based on the activities or servicesinvolved in the network communication session. In some embodiments, thepredetermined intervals may be based on user preferences or settings.

At operation 435, one or more updated display elements are selected. Insome embodiments, the one or more updated display elements arereplacement display elements to replace the display elements selected atoperation 420. In some embodiments, the one or more updated displayelements are additional display elements to display in conjunction withthe display elements selected at operation 420. The selection of one ormore updated display elements may include removing one or more displayelements selected at operation 420. The selection of the one or moreupdated display elements may be performed in accordance with thetechniques described in reference to operation 420 or in reference toFIG. 5 and FIG. 6 below. In some embodiments, the selection of one ormore updated display elements may involve adjusting, modifying,converting, or translating one or more previously selected displayelements selected at operation 420.

At operation 440, the client device 106 is provided with instructionswhich cause the client device 106 to display the one or more updateddisplay elements. The method 400 may return to operation 430 and repeateach of the subsequent operations until the network communicationsession is no longer active.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of operation 420 ofselecting display elements based on network bandwidth. In this example,the operation 420 may include operations such as determining thenecessary bandwidth of display elements at operation 505, comparingnecessary bandwidth with bandwidth of the network connection atoperation 510, and selecting display elements at operation 515.

At operation 505, the bandwidth necessary to display each displayelement is determined. In some embodiments, the necessary bandwidth foreach of the plurality of display elements received at operation 405 maybe determined upon receipt. In some embodiments, the necessary bandwidthfor display elements is determined upon receiving a request to view or acall from the corresponding webpage. The necessary bandwidth may be theamount of data communication resources necessary to transmit and displaythe display element. In some embodiments, the necessary bandwidth of aparticular element is a function of the display element size (expressedin bytes or bites).

At operation 510, the necessary bandwidth for each display element iscompared to the bandwidth of the connection. Based on the comparison,one or more display elements having a necessary bandwidth less than thebandwidth of the connection may be selected at operation 515.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of operation 420 ofselecting display elements based on network bandwidth. In this example,the operation 420 may include operations such as determining thenecessary bandwidth of display elements at operation 605, assigning eachdisplay element to a bandwidth range based on the necessary bandwidth atoperation 610, and selecting display elements within the range of thebandwidth of the connection 118 at operation 615.

At operation 605, the bandwidth necessary to display each displayelement is determined. In some embodiments, the necessary bandwidth foreach of the plurality of display elements received at operation 405 maybe determined upon receipt. In some embodiments, the necessary bandwidthfor display elements is determined upon receiving a request to view or acall from the corresponding webpage. The necessary bandwidth may be theamount of data communication resources necessary to transmit and displaythe display element. In some embodiments, the necessary bandwidth of aparticular element is a function of the display element size (expressedin bytes or bites).

At operation 610, each of the plurality of display elements may beassigned to a range of bandwidth values based on the necessary bandwidthof the respective display element. For example, the system may designatea “low bandwidth range,” a “moderate bandwidth range,” and a “highbandwidth range.” Each range may be defined by a lower bound and upperbound, with the upper and lower bounds corresponding to a bandwidthvalue. For example, the “low bandwidth range” may be defined by thebandwidth range from 0.0 kbps-128 kbps; the “moderate bandwidth range”may be defined by the bandwidth range from 128.1 kbps-1.5 Mbps; and the“upper bandwidth range” may be defined by the bandwidth range from 1.51Mbps-247 Mbps. Each of the plurality of display elements may be assignedto the range corresponding to the determined necessary bandwidth of thatelement. It should be appreciated that the ranges presented above aremerely exemplary and that the granularity of bandwidth scale and thenumber of bandwidth ranges may vary between different embodiments.

At operation 615, one or more display elements are selected from therange corresponding to the bandwidth of the network connection 118.Following the example from above, if the bandwidth of the connection 118is determined to be within the range 1.51 Mbps-247 Mbps, one or moredisplay elements assigned to the “upper bandwidth range” may be selectedfor display.

FIG. 7 is an interaction diagram illustrating an example method ofproviding responsive web page delivery based on network bandwidth. Inparticular, FIG. 7 illustrates interactions between various componentsof the network system 100, according to an example embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 7 illustrates interactions of the client device 106,the connection monitoring module 300, the element selection module 302,database 134, and the display module 306.

At operation 705, the client device 106 initiates a networkcommunication session with the network-based marketplace 102. In someembodiments, the network communication session may be an electroniccommerce session including general navigation of the network-basedmarketplace 102, searching for products offered for sale, viewing itemlistings offered by online merchants, adding items to an electronicshopping cart, and purchasing items added to the electronic shoppingcart. Upon initiation of the network communication session, theconnection monitoring module 300 may begin monitoring the connection 118of the client device 106 to the communication network 104.

At operation 710, the connection monitoring module 330 may determine abandwidth of the connection 118 to the client device 106. In someembodiments, the connection monitor module 330 may determine that thebandwidth of the connection 118 is within a particular range ofbandwidth values. At operation 715, the connection monitorung module 300may provide the bandwidth information to the element selection module302.

At operation 720, the element selection module 302 may retrieve aplurality of available display elements stored in database 134. Theplurality of available display elements may relate to the current stateof the network communication session or in some embodiments may relateto potential future states of the network communication session.

At operation 725, the element selection module 302 may select at leastone initial display element based on the bandwidth of the connection 118determined at operation 710 by the connection monitoring module 300. Theselecting of the at least one initial display element may be inaccordance with the methods described in reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

At operation 730, the element selection module 302 may provide thedisplay module 306 with the initial display elements. The display module306 may subsequently transmit instructions to the client device 106 atoperation 735, which may cause the client device 106 to display theselected elements (not shown). The display elements may be presented aspart of a webpage, series of webpages, or a user interface.

At operation 740, the network-based marketplace 102 may receive a callor request from the client device 106. The call or request may bereceived at the application server 124. Upon receiving the call from theclient device 106, the connection monitor module 300 may determine anupdated bandwidth of the connection 118 at operation 745. At operation750, the connection monitoring module 300 may provide the elementselection module 302 with the updated bandwidth information.

At operation 755, the element selection module 302 may select updatedelements based on the updated bandwidth value. In some embodiments, theselection of updated display elements may include selection of one ormore replacement display elements to replace the initial displayelements. In some embodiments, the element selection module 302 may workin conjunction with the element adjustment module 304 (not shown) toadjust one or more of the initial display elements to serve asreplacement display elements. In some embodiments, the updated displayelements may be additional display elements to be displayed inconjunction with the initial display elements.

At operation 760, the element selection module 302 may provide theupdated display elements to the display module 306. At operation 765,the display module 306 may provide the client device 106 instructionswhich cause the client device 106 to display the updated displayelements. Depending on the form of the updated display elements, theinstructions may cause the client device 106 to remove or replace theinitial display elements or to display the updated display elements inconjunction with the initial display elements.

Example User Interface

FIG. 8A is an interface diagram illustrating an example web page 800Awith multiple display elements delivered to a client device 106,according to an example embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 8A, the webpage 800A may be presented to a user on the display of a client device(e.g., client device 106). In this example, the web page 800A is aproduct description page corresponding to an item offered for sale onthe network-based marketplace 102.

Consistent with this embodiment, upon initiation of a networkcommunication session between the client device 106 and network-basedmarketplace 102, the connection monitoring module 300 may determine thatthe bandwidth of the connection 118 is low. As illustrated in FIG. 8A,display elements 802 and 804 are text-based elements requiring a lowamount of network resources making display elements 802 and 804 suitablefor the low bandwidth connection 118. As such, the display elements 802and 804 may be selected for display on the client device 106 based onthe low bandwidth.

FIG. 8B is an interface diagram illustrating an example web page 800Bwith multiple updated display elements delivered to a client device 106,according to an example embodiment. The web page 800B is the productdescription page illustrated in FIG. 8A with additional display elements806, 808, and 810. As illustrated in FIG. 8B, the display elements 806,808, and 810 are displayed in conjunction with display elements 802 and804. In this example embodiment, the display element 802 has beenupdated to make room for the larger and more graphically rich displayelements 806, 808, and 810.

As illustrated in FIG. 8B, the display elements 806, 808, and 810 areimage content that may require a greater amount of network resources todisplay than the simple text-based display elements 802 and 804. Assuch, the display elements 806, 808, and 810 may be selected for displayin response to measuring an updated bandwidth of the connection 118 thatis greater than the bandwidth measured in FIG. 8A. In some embodiments,the updated bandwidth may be determined in response to a userinteraction (e.g., click, swipe, or other gesture) with the web page800A. In some embodiments, the updated bandwidth may be measured at apredefined time interval.

FIG. 8C is an interface diagram illustrating an example web page 800Cwith an additional updated display elements delivered to a client device106, according to an example embodiment. The web page 800C is theproduct description page illustrated in FIG. 8B with additional displayelement 812. As illustrated in FIG. 8C, the display element 812 isdisplayed in conjunction with display elements 802-810. In this exampleembodiment, the display element 804 has updated to make room for displayelement 812.

As illustrated in FIG. 8C, the display element 812 is a video that mayrequire a greater amount of network resources to display than the simpletext-based display elements 802 and 804 and the images 806-810. As such,the display element 812 may be selected for display in response tomeasuring an updated bandwidth that is greater than the bandwidthmeasured in FIG. 8B.

Example Client Device

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a client device 106, such as amobile device, according to an example embodiment. The client device 106may include a processor 910. The processor 910 may be any of a varietyof different types of commercially available processors suitable formobile devices (e.g., an XScale architecture microprocessor, aMicroprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages (MIPS) architectureprocessor, or another type of processor). A memory 920, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM), a Flash memory, or other type of memory, istypically accessible to the processor 910. The memory 920 may be adaptedto store an operating system (OS) 930, as well as application programs940, such as a mobile location enabled application that may providelocation based services (e.g., physical location check-in) to a user.The processor 910 may be coupled, either directly or via appropriateintermediary hardware, to a display 950 and to one or more input/output(I/O) devices 960, such as a keypad, a touch panel sensor, a microphone,and the like. Similarly, in some embodiments, the processor 910 may becoupled to a transceiver 970 that interfaces with an antenna 990. Thetransceiver 970 may be configured to both transmit and receive cellularnetwork signals, wireless data signals, or other types of signals viathe antenna 990, depending on the nature of the client device 106. Inthis manner, the connection 118 with the network 104 may be established.Further, in some configurations, a GPS receiver 980 may also make use ofthe antenna 990 to receive GPS signals.

Modules, Components and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or ina transmission signal) or hardware modules. A hardware module is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client, or server computersystem) or one or more hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., aprocessor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware module thatoperates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a FPGA or an ASIC) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner and/or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses that connect the hardware modules). In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented modules. The performance of certain of theoperations may be distributed among the one or more processors, not onlyresiding within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), with these operations being accessiblevia a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriateinterfaces (e.g., APIs).

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,for example, a computer program tangibly embodied in an informationcarrier, for example, in a machine-readable medium for execution by, orto control the operation of, data processing apparatus, for example, aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site, or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry(e.g., a FPGA or an ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that both hardware and software architectures meritconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or a combinationof permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a designchoice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of machine in the example form of a computersystem 1000 within which instructions 1024 for causing the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may beexecuted. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as astandalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in thecapacity of a server or a client machine in server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a PDA, a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 1000 includes a processor 1002 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 1004 and a static memory 1006, which communicatewith each other via a bus 1008. The computer system 1000 may furtherinclude a video display unit 1010 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1000 also includes analphanumeric input device 1012 (e.g., a keyboard), a UI cursor controldevice 1014 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1016, a signal generationdevice 1018 (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device 1020.

Machine-Readable Medium

The disk drive unit 1016 includes a machine-readable medium 1022 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions1024 (e.g., software) embodying or used by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1024 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory1004, static memory 1006, and/or within the processor 1002 duringexecution thereof by the computer system 1000, with the main memory 1004and the processor 1002 also constituting machine-readable media.

While the machine-readable medium 1022 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore data structures or instructions 1024. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including by way of example, semiconductormemory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Transmission Medium

The instructions 1024 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1026 using a transmission medium. Theinstructions 1024 may be transmitted using the network interface device1020 and any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g.,HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a LAN, a WAN, theInternet, mobile telephone networks, POTS networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., WiFi and WiMax networks). The term “transmission medium”shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying instructions 1024 for execution by themachine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made to these embodimentswithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the inventivesubject matter. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. Theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, show by way ofillustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which thesubject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be usedand derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutionsand changes may be made without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken ina limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined onlyby the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents towhich such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

All publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in thisdocument are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, asthough individually incorporated by reference. In the event ofinconsistent usages between this document and those documents soincorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s)should be considered supplementary to that of this document; forirreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and“in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respectiveterms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, theterms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended; that is, a system,device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to thoselisted after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within thescope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms“first,” “second,” and “third,” and so forth are used merely as labels,and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment.

What is claimed:
 1. A system comprising: a connection monitoring modulecomprising one or more processors and configured to determine abandwidth of a network connection to a client device involved in anetwork communication session, the network communication sessioninvolving a webpage comprising a plurality of display elements; anelement selection module configured to select, using the one or moreprocessors, at least one display element from the plurality of displayelements to provide as part of a display of the webpage on the clientdevice based on the bandwidth of the network connection, the elementselection module configured to select the at least one display elementby performing operations including: dynamically determining a bandwidthvalue for each display element in the plurality of display elements inresponse to receiving a request to view the webpage, and assigning eachdisplay element of the plurality of display elements to one of aplurality of bandwidth ranges based on the dynamically determinedbandwidth value for each display element in the plurality of displayelements, the plurality of bandwidth ranges including a low bandwidthrange that includes bandwidth values from 0 kbps to 128 kbps, a moderatebandwidth range that includes bandwidth values from 128.1 kbps to 1.5Mbps, and a high bandwidth range that includes bandwidth values from1.51 Mbps to 247 Mbps, the element selection module further configuredto select the at least one display element from the plurality of displayelements based on the at least one display element being assigned to abandwidth range corresponding to the bandwidth of the network connectionof the client device involved in the network communication session; anda user interface module configured to provide instructions to the clientdevice which cause the client device to display the at least one displayelement; wherein the connection monitoring module is further configuredto determine an updated bandwidth of the network connection to theclient device involved in the network communication session at apredetermined interval, the predetermined interval being based on a typeof activity involved in the network communication session; and whereinthe user interface module is further configured to provide additionalinstructions to the client device which cause the client device toreplace the at least one display element with at least one replacementdisplay element based on the updated bandwidth.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the type of activity is selected from the group consisting ofbrowsing a webpage, presenting content, publishing content, bidding onan item offered for sale in an online auction, communicating viatext-based communications, and sending or receiving electronic mail. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the element selection module is furtherconfigured to select the at least one replacement display element todisplay on the client device based on the updated bandwidth.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one display element is videocontent and wherein the at least one replacement element is an image ofa frame of the video content.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein thedisplay element selection module is further configured to determine theclient device is not capable of displaying the at least one displayelement based on a further updated bandwidth, and wherein the userinterface module is further configured to provide instructions whichcause the client device to remove the at least one display element fromthe webpage display.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least onedisplay element is selected from the group consisting of a graphicbanner, video content, image content, and a text element.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the determining of the bandwidth of the networkconnection includes measuring a network throughput of the networkconnection.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining of thebandwidth of the connection comprises determining whether the bandwidthof the connection is within a predefined range of bandwidth values, andwherein the determining of the at least one display element comprisesselecting the at least one display element from a plurality of displayelements assigned to the predefined range of bandwidth values.
 9. Amethod comprising: determining a bandwidth of a network connection of aclient device involved in a network communication session, the networkcommunication session involving a webpage comprising a plurality ofdisplay elements; selecting, using one or more processors of a machine,at least one display element from the plurality of display elements toprovide as part of a display of the webpage on the client device basedon the bandwidth of the network connection, the selecting of the atleast one display element from the plurality of display elementsincluding: dynamically determining a bandwidth value for each displayelement in the plurality of display elements in response to receiving arequest to view the webpage, and assigning each display element of theplurality of display elements to one of a plurality of bandwidth rangesbased on the dynamically determined bandwidth value for each displayelement in the plurality of display elements, the plurality of bandwidthranges including a low bandwidth range that includes bandwidth valuesfrom 0 kbps to 128 kbps, a moderate bandwidth range that includesbandwidth values from 128.1 kbps to 1.5 Mbps, and a high bandwidth rangethat includes bandwidth values from 1.51 Mbps to 247 Mbps, the at leastone display element being selected from the plurality of displayelements based on the at least one display element being assigned to abandwidth range corresponding to the bandwidth of the network connectionof the client device involved in the network communication session;providing instructions to the client device which cause the clientdevice to display the at least one display element; determining anupdated bandwidth of the network connection to the client deviceinvolved in the network communication session at a predeterminedinterval, the predetermined interval being based on a type of activityinvolved in the network communication session; and providing additionalinstructions to the client device which cause the client device toreplace the at least one display element with at least one replacementdisplay element based on the updated bandwidth.
 10. The method of claim9, wherein the type of activity is selected from the group consisting ofbrowsing a webpage, presenting content, publishing content, bidding onan item offered for sale in an online auction, communicating viatext-based communications, and sending or receiving electronic mail. 11.The method of claim 9, further comprising: selecting the at least onereplacement display element to display on the client device based on theupdated bandwidth.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least onedisplay element is a first image, and wherein the at least onereplacement display element is a second image with a resolutiondifferent than that of the first image.
 13. The method of claim 9,further comprising: determining the client device is not capable ofdisplaying the at least one display element based on a further updatedbandwidth; and providing instructions which cause the client device toremove the at least one display element from the display.
 14. The methodof claim 9, wherein the at least one display element is selected fromthe group consisting of a graphic banner, a video content, an imagecontent, and a text element.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein thedetermining of the bandwidth of the network connection includesmeasuring a signal strength of the network connection.
 16. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the determining of the bandwidth includes measuringlatency of the network connection between the client device and a serverhosting the network communication session.
 17. The method of claim 9,wherein the bandwidth value for each display element of the plurality ofdisplay elements corresponds to an amount of data communicationresources necessary to deliver the display element to the client device.18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium embodyinginstructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine toperform operations comprising: determining a bandwidth of a networkconnection of a client device involved in a network communicationsession, the network communication session involving a webpagecomprising a plurality of display elements; selecting, using one or moreprocessors of a machine, at least one display element from the pluralityof display elements to provide as part of a display of the webpage onthe client device based on the bandwidth of the network connection, theselecting of the at least one display element from the plurality ofdisplay elements including: dynamically determining a bandwidth valuefor each display element in the plurality of display elements inresponse to receiving a request to view the webpage, and assigning eachdisplay element of the plurality of display elements to one of aplurality of bandwidth ranges based on the dynamically determinedbandwidth value for each display element in the plurality of displayelements, the plurality of bandwidth ranges including a low bandwidthrange that includes bandwidth values from 0 kbps to 128 kbps, a moderatebandwidth range that includes bandwidth values from 128.1 kbps to 1.5Mbps, and a high bandwidth range that includes bandwidth values from1.51 Mbps to 247 Mbps, the at least one display element being selectedfrom the plurality of display elements based on the at least one displayelement being assigned to a bandwidth range corresponding to thebandwidth of the network connection of the client device involved in thenetwork communication session; providing instructions to the clientdevice which cause the client device to display the at least one displayelement; determining an updated bandwidth of the network connection tothe client device involved in the network communication session at apredetermined interval, the predetermined interval being based on a typeof activity involved in the network communication session; and providingadditional instructions to the client device which cause the clientdevice to replace the at least one display element with at least onereplacement display element based on the updated bandwidth.